


RLY

by bbyonion



Category: IZONE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbyonion/pseuds/bbyonion
Summary: Kim Chaewon is head over heels for a Japanese Grade School teacher.
Relationships: Honda Hitomi/Kim Chaewon (IZONE)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	RLY

**Author's Note:**

> first posted on my AFF account.

* * *

A bouquet of fresh roses sat atop the kitchen counter as Hitomi poured herself some morning coffee. Her best friend slash housemate walked in astonished by the sight of the flowers for the fifteenth consecutive time that month and for the second straight month.

"Another one?" Nako asked as she read the message on the card.

_'I look forward to seeing you smile with this. Hope you like them as much as I like you.'_

"Ugh. Whoever has been sending you these flowers must be a coward." She even faked a puke. Hitomi only smiled at her as she took a seat on one of the stools. "Sending messages through a card and asking someone else to deliver it."

"Just let them be. I love the flowers anyway."

"Of course, Hiichan. That explains why our apartment is almost looking like greenhouse now." Nako rolled her eyes, referring to the dozens of flowers Hitomi has arranged anywhere she can in their unit.

Being already used to her best friend's exaggerations, Hitomi just laughed, making the midget frown. She took a sip from her coffee and extended her arm to pat Nako on the head. "Cheer up now. It's too early for you to be frowning like that."

"Nonsense. You know this has always been my morning mood." The shorter girl shoved her hand away before walking towards the fridge to fetch herself a glass of milk.

Hitomi chuckled at her actions. She knew better than anyone that the midget is just being envious of the flowers she keeps receiving. Nobody has ever dared to give Nako any flowers. But can she blame them? Especially when her friend is out to throw a fit every time someone dares to make a move on her?

"Say, Nako, do you want to go visit the flower shop?" Hitomi asked out of nowhere.

Nako looked at her with skeptism. How unusual it is for Hitomi to be asking to go out on her rest day when she should be working on her lesson plans for her classes.

"For what?"

The blonde thought about it for a while. She honestly did not have a reason to go until suddenly, a face flashed in her mind. She wouldn't want to tell Nako about it so she has to make up an excuse. Hitomi shrugged her shoulders and sipped on her coffee.

"It just feels like a good day to check on the flowers, don't you agree with me?"

* * *

The door chimes rang as a rider walked in still with a helmet on. The tall girl who sat bored at the counter immediately stood up and picked up an object closest to her. She threw a floral foam towards the rider who successfully dodged it the last second.

Outraged by the violent greeting, the rider took off her helmet and shouted at the girl. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

  
"YAH! You took my bouquet again! Pay for it!!"

  
"Why should I?! I didn't take it!"

Another foam came flying towards her again and she successfully caught it. Pissed off by the younger's actions, she was about to throw the item back at her.

But someone held her arm before she could swing it forward.

"Chaewon-unnie, Wonyoung-ah, stop it." Another tall girl stood beside Chaewon. The aggravated rider could only give them both a snarky glare.

"Yujin-unnie! She took the bouquet I made again!" The youngest in the room cried out.

  
Chaewon groaned in frustration. "I told you I didn't!"

  
"Aish, will you both stop shouting?" Yujin reprimanded them and the two immediately shut their mouths.

A soft chuckle resonated around the small shop and all eyes immediately flew towards the brunette that just came in from the back door.

  
"Wonyoung-ah, I took the flowers. I'm sorry."

  
Wonyoung softened at the apology of her favorite unnie. "A-Ah, Minju-unnie, it's okay."

Chaewon scoffed at the immediate shift in Wonyoung's behavior before plopping down on the nearest couch.

"As always, if it's Minju…" Chaewon mumbled to herself.

"We all have a soft spot for Kim Minju." Yujin said as she sat beside the grumpy rider. "Did you give her flowers again?"

  
She hummed and stretched in her seat. "I don't know if I should personally give her some tomorrow."

"Why so?"

Chaewon thought back to when she delivered the flowers earlier.

* * *

_As for how long she has been doing a somewhat creepy deed, Chaewon had never felt so nervous her entire life. When she presented business proposals at work, nervousness was just a word for her. But now, the word itself has showcased its effect on her entire being._

  
_With her heart pounding in a mix of excitement and worry, breathing became difficult for Chaewon to do, especially with her helmet on. She has never been this excited to see the girl since she started delivering flowers personally._   
  


_And that's all because she has other plans for today, not just to deliver the flowers._

  
_Her finger lingered near the apartment's doorbell, her arm trembling. Even just the thought of seeing the Japanese teacher personally again made her mind go crazy. Mental plans of what she intends to do clouded her head and eventually causing her to not be able to think straight; that when the door suddenly opened, she shoved the bouquet of white roses right on the chest of the person who just came out._

_To her surprise, it was the girl of her interest who now stood shocked by her actions._

_Honda Hitomi, though with a dumbfounded look, accepted the bouquet without question but Chaewon didn't withdraw her arms and couldn't mutter an apology. Sweat ran down her forehead and back as if she was being trapped in an oven and could melt at any second; but ironically, she's just frozen in place._

_"Uhm, are you okay?" The blonde-haired foreigner asked in her cute voice that Chaewon have always swooned for since the first time she saw and heard her outside of her workplace._

_But in that moment, she feels like she could drop on the floor if her arms weren't anchoring on the bouquet._

_The rider didn't answer and that somehow made the foreigner worry. Hitomi pulled Chaewon's arms down for her to take a step forward. Chaewon's eyes grew wide when she felt the blonde's hand hold on to the visor of her helmet. She was going to stop her from doing anything but Hitomi had already beat her to it._

_With a gentle push, the tinted material was lifted open revealing Chaewon's eyes and a part of her cheeks squeezed by the cheek pads inside._

_As it is the first time their eyes have met in close counters, Chaewon just lost it._

_She forgot about whatever she was supposed to do and unintentionally pushed the girl off her before running away like the coward that she is._

* * *

The giant puppy's boisterous laugh filled the small shop, catching the attention of the two other girls who were busy chatting with each other. Chaewon smacked Yujin hard on the arm.

"OW!"

"Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

"To you, it isn't. But to me," A snort turned to another round of laughter, making Chaewon's frown more evidently deep than it already was. "That was so hilarious, unnie! I didn't know the great Kim Chaewon could panic like that." Her laugh became louder, irritating the hell out of Chaewon.

One snarky glare from the older girl was all it took to shut Yujin up and come up an excuse to escape her incoming wrath. The puppy scrambled on her feet and dragged the clueless Minju outside. Chaewon could only breathe out a frustrated sigh as the two disappered out of the door.

She turned to the counter and found the youngest now glaring at her. She raised a brow at Wonyoung.

  
"What?"

  
"Seriously, stop scaring Yujin-unnie like that."

  
She rolled her eyes and lied on the couch. Wonyoung was quick to reprimand her.

  
"Yah! You're not allowed to sleep there!"

  
Chaewon lost the energy to argue anymore and yawned. "Just give me ten minutes. I was up too early today."

True enough, she did wake up an hour before her alarm blared. And the first thing she did? She arranged the flowers she picked from Minju's garden (with permission, of course) and arranged one of her signature bouquets to offer to her favorite girl.

She initially didn't have the interest of arranging her own set of flowers until Honda Hitomi came along. The latter's fondness of flowers and her attraction to the teacher's entire being pushed Chaewon to make one herself instead of paying her friends to do it.

Every time she begins to question why she's doing it everyday – even sacrificing her sleep – at the back of her head, Minju's words lingered,

_"Girls love it when you offer them efforts instead of paying others to do it for you."_

Thus, her extra efforts of also personally delivering the flowers right at the foreigner's exact address.

But with what she did earlier? She doubts she'll be delivering some for a while.

"Get up, unnie. You have a delivery to do."

  
Chaewon groaned as she opened her eyes again. "Do it yourself. I'm not your delivery girl."

  
"I'm not a delivery girl, my ass." Wonyoung mocked as she walked over to the older girl. "Give me your keys."

  
The sleepy rider lazily tossed her keys before adjusting her position on the couch and closed her eyes again.  
  
  
"Not a scratch, Wonyoung."

  
"Yeah, I get it. At least watch over the shop after your ten minutes is over."

  
Chaewon didn't bother answering properly and faked a snore. That was the cue for Wonyoung to leave her alone.

  
Though it took quite awhile for her to fully drift off but the ten minutes was enough to energize her for the rest of that morning and tend to the shop while the owners are out.

After stretching out her limbs and refresh herself with a glass of cold water, she settled on the stool at the counter and waited for any customer to arrive.

* * *

The breaks of Hitomi’s bicycle squealed in friction when she neared the flower shop. Seeing the blooming flowers at F3 Haven's front immediately brought a smile to her face, forgetting about how disappointed she was feeling because Nako declined to accompany her just so she can get that free _disgusting_ mintchoco ice cream at a newly opened ice cream parlor near their apartment. She got off and walked the remaining distance towards the shop with her bike on her side, admiring the facade's beauty that brought life to the formerly dull-looking neighborhood.  
  


  
She still remembers the first time she arrived in Korea and explored the neighborhood around the school she's going to teach in. There were a lot of cute and famous shops but none of them caught her interest more than the newly opened flower shop.

Since she was a kid, she always had this particular liking to flowers. No matter what kind, she loves them. Even if they have thorns and can be poisonous, she equally loves them as much as she loves those that are harmless. Whenever she has time, she purposely visits the shop just to see the flowers. That has been her sole reason for the past two years of dropping by while occasionally chatting with the owners.

  
But for the past few months, there came another reason for her visits: a new girl in town who happens to visit the shop for as often as she does.

  
However, they never had a single verbal interaction with each other simply because when she arrives, the girl happens to leave right at that moment and had always been in a hurry too.

Hitomi did try to initiate a simple exchange one time, however, she only got a pissed off glare in return. But that did not lessen her admiration for the girl's beauty, even more for her kindness when she found her treating some kids with cheese balls at a nearby park.

Back to the present, she pushed the door open and the chimes rang above her head. She expected to see the youngest owner to be greeting her with a smile at the counter but no one was there. She turned to the couch on the side where the second youngest owner would usually be lazing around or sleeping, but still she found no one.

"Hello?" She tried calling and got no response.

Lastly, she peeked outside the window where she can see the beautiful garden always tended by the eldest owner, hoping to see her but there was nobody.

"Why would they leave the shop open without anyone keeping watch?" She thought to herself loudly.

Suddenly, she heard a loud crash coming from behind the counter. With cautious steps, she moved forward and tried to peek over it.

"Wonyoung-chan?" She called for the youngest, but boy has she ever been so wrong for the first time in her life.

* * *

"Yah! Where the hell are you guys?" Chaewon yelled into her phone the moment Minju picked up from the other line. Unfortunately for her, it was the puppy who answered the call, shouting back at her.

"You're disturbing us, unnie! We're on a date! Geez!"

  
The bored rider rolled her eyes dramatically as if Yujin is in front of her. "Do I sound like I care?"

  
"Just say you're—ow!" She smirked when she heard the puppy cry out in pain. She bet Minju was pulling on her ear right now while scolding her.

  
A few seconds later, a soothing voice talked from their end, totally opposite to Yujin’s scandalous loudness.

  
"Hello, Chaewon-unnie! Sorry about Yujin. We're just finishing things up and we'll be back in a few."

  
"Okay. But hurry up! Wonyoung's not here too and I don't know what to do when your customers come in asking for arranged flowers."

  
Minju's signature laugh echoed through the earpiece and Chaewon swore she heard Yujin mumbling something about the older girl's laugh.

  
"You can handle them well, unnie. You know you arrange flowers better than I can."

  
Chaewon didn't know what to do with her cheeks burning after hearing a compliment. It's a good thing they couldn't see her face so she can just mask it with a pretentious tone.

  
"Yeah, right. If you're not back here in an hour, I'm destroying your garden." She even threatened. But then again, Minju just knew how to handle it.

  
"I'd like to see you try unnie and we'll see where you can get flowers to give to Hitomi-ssi."

  
Before the older girl could reiterate, Minju had already ended the call. Chaewon groaned in frustration and pushed herself off the counter.

Unfortunately for her, she forgot that she was sitting on a stool, causing it to fall over and throwing her on the ground, wincing and cursing in pain.

  
"Damn you, Jinjoo. This is your fault."

  
She was about to get up when she heard the front door open with the chimes ringing. Thinking it was just some random customer, she pulled herself together and attempted to stand. But when the unknown customer spoke, for the second time that day, Chaewon was frozen.

Honda Hitomi is _in_ the store.

She heard the steps around the place and her mind began panicking again. There was no one else inside but them and she was in no fixed and proper state to face the girl after what she humiliatingly did earlier that day.

She looked around her and tried to find something that she can use to cover her face. She spotted a box full of nonsense stuff--probably owned by Yujin--on one shelf and she pulled it out in haste. The box crashed on the floor and the items fell out. She cursed herself again for her clumsiness that surely caught Hitomi's attention as she heard her calling out for Wonyoung while her steps were coming her way.

Without thinking twice, Chaewon grabbed the cheetah mask and wore it before standing up abruptly and scaring the hell out of the Japanese girl.

Hitomi's freaked out squeal filled the shop and Chaewon began to panic too. She frantically shook her hands in front of the other girl and tried to soothe her verbally.

_"_ Ahh~ _no, no~ I- not monster. Just mask–"_

Although her Japanese can be likened to that of a preschooler, she still tried to speak the language using the limited words she picked up from her friends, complementing it with gestures.

Fortunately for her, it worked! And though in tears, Hitomi calmed down.

The guilt of scaring the girl, although unintentionally, crept under Chaewon's skin and she immediately felt sorry for it. She grabbed some tissue and, a bit hesitantly, reached out for Hitomi's face.

As she wiped her tears, the Japanese stood stunned by the mysterious girl in a cheetah mask, her eyes staring right through the screened eye holes.

Chaewon became confident enough to meet Hitomi's gaze behind the mask. She treasured the moment like it would be the last time she'll be seeing those orbs up front. Her fingers touched a bit of her delicate skin and she could immediately describe it to be as soft as bread more than how she initially thought of it to be a peach.

" _A-Ano_ …"

Like a surprised cat, Chaewon jumped at Hitomi's sudden utterance. Her control over her senses came back and she quickly withdrew her hand, tucking it on her side as she crumpled the tissue paper she still held.

" _S-Sorry._ " She muttered almost inaudibly but Hitomi heard it clearly and smiled at her.

" _Daijoubou._ "

Chaewon almost succumbed to Hitomi's charms and lost herself again, if not for Wonyoung's cat that suddenly hopped on top of the table out of nowhere and meowed in front of her.

"Oh! Neko!" Hitomi squealed gleefully and started petting the cat. Chaewon watched as the cat purred under Hitomi's caress. Her brows furrowed seeing how the fat, white, snarky cat somehow looked at her as if it was smirking while still enjoying Hitomi's petting, telling her it got the upper hand of being close to the girl.

_The hell am I doing getting jealous over a cat?!_ She reprimanded herself and took every ounce of self control to not shove the stupid feline away from the girl.

Remembering the job the owners left her to do, Chaewon fixed herself before talking. With a fake cough, she grabbed foreigner's attention and talked with her broken Japanese again.

_"M-Me help you anything?_ "

A chuckle slipped from Hitomi's lips causing Chaewon to blush. She embarrassed herself again.

"I can understand Korean." The girl simply said in fluent Korean while still fawning over the cat.

_Right. I knew that_. Chaewon thought to herself and thanked the mask for covering her embarrassment. She bet her entire face looked like a rotten tomato already.

"Is there anything I can do for you today?" With a renewed confidence, she asked again as if she hadn't done anything stupid a few minutes ago.

Hitomi looked up. "Hmm…" She carried the damn cat in her arms and thought further, still petting the feline. A few moments later, she smiled at Chaewon again. "Nothing, I just wanted to see the flowers today."

"Just the flowers?"

The question that was supposed to stay in her head abruptly came out of her mouth. And it was too late to take it back when the girl was already nodding at her.

_You really had to ask, huh?_

"I see…"

"Ah, actually, I was hoping to see someone here too. But I guess she's not around today." There was a hint of dismay in her tone while looking down on the cat sadly and Chaewon surely caught it.

"Wonyoung?"

For a while, she thought Hitomi looked at her like she said something absurd but it was immediately dismissed by another smile; though a timid one.

"Yeah. Wonyoung."

_Ouch._

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you wearing a mask?" Hitomi asked in utmost curiosity that even the cat looked at her the same.

"I-It's a dare for new employees."

_Lame excuse._

"So you're just new here?"

Chaewon nodded. "Got hired today."

_Sure._

Hitomi nodded and the conversation ended right there. Chaewon breathed a sigh of relief when the girl stopped asking questions and settled on watching her play with Wonyoung's cat.

  
When she smiles, she found herself smiling too. When she pouts, her own lips start protruding as well. When the cat accidentally scratched Hitomi, Chaewon was ready to throw it out but the girl's laugh was enough to stop her from executing her plan of action.

"Do you like cats?" She asked after Hitomi's laughter died down.

  
The Japanese shook her head lightly. "Snowball is just special."

  
Hearing her answer made Chaewon furrow her brows and glare at the cat. _How the hell are you special?_

"What makes you say so?" She made sure she's not lacing her tone with bitterness.

"Snowball-chan just reminds me of someone. Snowball-chan looks very intimidating but he's actually very cute. I believe not many people have seen Snowball-chan act like this… Just like that person. And I was probably just too blessed to have witnessed all that in one day."

"Do you have a crush on that person?" She asked carefully and the corner of the foreigner's lips curved upward, her eyes glistening with something.

Chaewon frowned behind the mask upon realizing the meaning behind Hitomi's smile.

"I guess you could say that."

_There goes my hopes and dreams_ , she thought.

What happened next went by like a blur for Chaewon. Hitomi asked to see the flowers in the garden and all she did was nod. The girl enthusiastically headed out of the door and started talking to the flowers, still with Snowball in her arms. Chaewon could only sprawl her upper body over the counter top and groaned at her own stupidity.

She never should have asked that.

The front door opened and two girls walked in carrying bags of fertilizers and groceries. The taller one grunted in every step as she went straight to the storage room.

"Unnie, are you okay?" Minju asked as she settled the the groceries behind the counter. "Why are you wearing a mask?"

  
  


"She's here." Chaewon mumbled against the table.

  
  


"Yah! Chaewon-unnie!" The giant puppy came rushing to the counter, startling both of the older girls. "Why is peach face here? Did you talk to her? Did she talk to you?"

  
  


A pinch on her side made her yelp.

  
"Keep it down, will you?" Minju reprimanded her and the poor puppy could only nod obediently.

Chaewon got off the table and took off the mask. She threw it right at Yujin before walking out of the counter area, leaving the two girls confused.

"Where are you going?"

  
"I'm going home." She answered simply and wore her leather jacket.

  
"What about peach face?"

Chaewon paused and took a quick glance at the blonde foreigner out in the gardens. She felt something warm coat her heart upon seeing her bright smile while she talked with the flowers. But the lingering sting from their conversation earlier immediately caused her to dismiss the feeling as she turned away.

"She's just here for Wonyoung."

* * *

After what seemed to be ten minutes of talking to the flowers, Hitomi finally went back inside the shop. She was going to thank the new employee for allowing her to explore the gardens but the girl in a cheetah mask was nowhere inside. Instead she found the two co-owners of the shop talking discreetly with each other.

"Ah! Hii-chan! You're here!" The older girl of the two exclaimed when she saw her.

Hitomi smiled and dipped her head as a greeting. Minju came to her with a warm smile as well.

"You should have told me you were coming over."

  
"It was a split second decision to come here."

  
"Well, I'm glad to see you here today nonetheless."

  
"Me too, unnie."

Hitomi's eyes then wandered around the shop. Her wariness caught on Yujin's keen observance from the counter.

"Are you looking for someone?" The tall girl asked, popping a candy into her mouth.

  
"I was just… uh, yes. I'm looking for your new employee?"

The co-owners looked at each other with raised brows for a brief moment before turning back to her.

"New employee?"

Hitomi nodded and started describing the girl earlier wearing a cheetah mask. Minju and Yujin both found it absurd for Chaewon to make up an excuse like it that they ended up laughing their lungs out.

The Japanese, clueless as she is, couldn't comprehend what the two were laughing about all of a sudden. She waited for them in confusion as they tried to settle down. Minju was the first one to recover while Yujin was already close to rolling on the floor.

"I-I'm sorry, Hii-chan. It's just so funny to hear her do that." Minju wiped a stray tear from all the laughing. But Hitomi still remained clueless with what just happemed.

"Who?"

"Chaewon-unnie. She doesn't work here."

_Eh? Chaewon?_

A loud cough was heard from Yujin before she spoke up too. "Yeah, she practically lives a better life than us. She doesn't need to work in a tiny flower shop like this."

Hitomi tried to process the information spilled to her, taking quite a couple of lengthy seconds to be able to understand all of it. And when she did…

"Ehhh???" Her mental confusion was finally voiced out and the two only chuckled at her adorable reaction.

* * *

"Boss," Chaewon raised her head from the stack of papers on her table and looked at her secretary peeping by the door like a little kid. "You have a phone call."

She waved her hand off and her secretary closed the door. She picked up the phone with a sigh and lazily placed it on her ear.

  
But it did not take her more than two seconds to regret what she did as Yujin's voice blared through the earpiece and pierced her eardrums. She distanced the phone and hissed under her breath.

_Why does this dog have to be so loud?_

Only when she was sure that nobody was screaming into her ear anymore that she carefully placed it back on.

  
"You done yelling?"

  
  


"No. But Minju and Wonyoung are both glaring at me right now so I guess I am."

  
"Good." She breathed in. "What do you want?"

  
"When are you gonna go back delivering the flowers yourself?"

  
Chaewon sighed. "Did you really have to call through the company phone just to ask me this?"

  
  


"You have me blocked on your personal number." Yujin deadpanned and Chaewon had to stifle a laugh.

  
"Anyways, she keeps asking about the old delivery person and where the hell has she gone to."

Her brows scrunched in confusion. Why would Hitomi be looking for her?

"Then just tell her she's already quit the job."

"She's not accepting the flowers anymore."

"What?"

"Just kidding." Yujin snickered and Chaewon snapped at her.

"AHN YUJIN!"

"Tsk. Can't I throw a joke around here anymore?"

Chaewon took a deep breath to control her temper. With all the stress piled up in her work, Yujin poking fun on her is not making her feel any better at all.

"Yah! I have no time for jokes."

"I might not be wrong though. She's not that enthusiastic in receiving the flowers anymore like you told me before."

Chaewon shut her eyes tight and leaned back on her swivel chair. If only she's not stacked with paper works, she'd really go back to delivering the flowers herself. But because she doesn't have the liberty to free herself from all the workload that she’s neglected for almost three months, she has been asking Yujin to do it for her, as well as arranging the flowers. The younger girl has been doing it for a week now but it seems that Hitomi has now lost her interest on it.

Then she remembered that day when Hitomi admitted her feelings for another person. A sigh came out of her while her heart clenched at the memory.

"You don't have to deliver those anymore." She softly told Yujin.

"Eh? What do you mean, unnie?"

"I don't want to keep forcing myself to her when she clearly likes someone else."

"You know?

"She told me that time when I pretended to be working at your shop."

"Oh."

Her eyes flung open and her brow raises, although Yujin can't see it. The tone in the younger's voice caught her entire curiosity.

"Oh what?"

"Oh I just thought you knew who it is."

"I do. She likes Wonyoung."

Immediately after saying the youngest's name, Yujin bursted out laughing on the other end making the clueless Chaewon even more confused.

"바보야~~~"

"The hell are you calling mean idiot for?"

  
"It's true that she's in love with someone else but I can't believe you just assumed who it is."

  
"What are you talking about?" She snapped but Yujin still had another round of laughter at her end.

  
"I believe I've already said enough."

  
"Yujin, if you're just toying with me, it's better that–"

"If I am just messing around unnie, I wouldn't be telling you right now that Hiichan left a letter for you,"

There was a pause. Chaewon could already picture out the teasing grin behind Yujin's tone.

"F3 Haven is always welcome for you to come and get it before we close down for the day."

The call ended immediately after Yujin has delivered her message. Chaewon was left in a daze as her exhaustion slowly wore out after hearing about the said letter. When she finally regained focus, she glanced at her office wall clock. It read a little past five on that busy afternoon. But in a split second, she decided to leave behind her workload for the rest of the day.

She has to get that letter before Yujin does anything stupid to it.

She grabbed her phone and keys before rushing out of the door. Her secretary stood up the moment she saw her, alarmed by her hastiness. But she's really just worried that her boss is slacking off at work again.

"Boss! Where are you going? You have an important meeting in thirty minutes!" The small girl tried to tiptoe over the towering piles of paper on her desk while Chaewon waited for the elevator to arrive.

"Move it first thing tomorrow! Please just make up an excuse for me!"

The elevator slid open and Chaewon immediately went in. But before letting the door close, she held it open and peeped back out to say something important to her ever-so-reliable secretary.

"Thank you, Nako!"

Chaewon beat the rush hour traffic with her motorbike. Albeit not being the type who'd recklessly beat a red light just to get ahead, she did it. Not just once, but THRICE! And, oh, just how lucky she is that no cops had bothered to get on her tail even until she got out of the main highway.

She arrived at the flower shop at exactly six in the evening, half an hour before the owners close it for the day. She saw the three owners are still inside while she parked her bike properly. After securely hanging her helmet on the side mirror, her feet shuffled its way towards the entrance.

"Ahn Yujin! Where's the letter-"

Her abrupt opening of the door and loud voice caught everyone's attention inside the shop, especially the person other than the owners that she was not able to see from outside. Three pairs of eyes looked at her in amusement while the fourth pair owned by the girl sitting on the floor as she was trying to arrange the flowers… Chaewon could not decipher.

Because her entire body just froze on her again.

As the girl by the door stood still, Hitomi fixed her eyes on her in awe. She's only seen the girl with her leather rider outfit before and to actually see her wearing her corporate attire, it was a refreshing sight for her.

The two of them just locked eyes with each other for a lengthy moment before Yujin's back suddenly blocked her view and Wonyoung and Minju crouched in front of her.

The Japanese blinked and shifted her gaze on the two owners in wonder of their sudden blocking.

"Okay, Hiichan. We're gonna go out and leave you guys to talk." Minju started.

  
"You can do it." Wonyoung showed an encouraging fist with a smile.

It took a moment for Hitomi to understand what was going on. And when she did, she nodded her head.

"Thank you."

The two dispersed themselves, dragging Yujin with them on the way, leaving them alone in the shop.

Hitomi looked back at the girl who's now fidgeting in her place. She was barely looking back at her and her expression was stiff. So she took the initiative to approach her instead.

Up on her feet, the Japanese took careful steps forward, not breaking eye contact while doing so. She caught how wide the girl's eyes grew when she halted right in front of her. Hitomi found it amusing though.

"Hi."

A loud gulp was heard from the corporate girl. Mouth opening to say something but not a single sound came out. Witnessing how the girl acts in front of her made Hitomi feel a bit embarrassed and perhaps mixed with hint of pride within her.

After all, Kim Chaewon, a corporate household name of the biggest investment company in the country, is stunned by her presence. That's something she can brag about to anyone.

But she won't.

She'd love to keep it all to herself.

"We finally meet, Kim Chaewon-ssi."

Chaewon's eyes grew wide hearing her name from Hitomi. It was beyond her imagination that the girl would know any info about her when they have not even met properly before.

"H-How did you know about my name?"

"It's not that difficult to find out when my best friend is your secretary."

Realization dawned on Chaewon and Hitomi couldn't help but chuckle at her noticeable moment of enlightenment. And taking more advantage of the situation, she spilled further.

"I also know that you're the one who's been sending and personally delivering me those flowers."

  
This time, not only Chaewon's eyes grew wide but her jaw also dropped, looking like a deer caught on a headlight.

"H-How..."

Hitomi pulled out something from her bag: a bundle of message cards that Chaewon have previously attached to the flowers. She picked out one and showed it to the girl. Chaewon inwardly cringed at the cheesy message she read inside the card but that didn’t matter now.

"When I came here last time you were here, wearing the same watch as the person who kept delivering the flowers for the past months.” She glanced at Chaewon’s wrist and found the same watch. “And you didn't really bother altering your handwriting in your message cards..." She purposely trailed off as pulled up a picture on her phone, putting it beside the card and letting the older girl see it. "So when I saw the notes you leave for Nako at work, I--"

Like it was an embarrassing picture of her childhood, Chaewon took the cards, including the phone from Hitomi. The Japanese looked at her confused.

"Eh-"

"So what if I really did give those flowers and wrote you these awful messages? Does it still matter when you like someone else?"

Hitomi could only blink at the girl's blabbering.

"I did all these for nothing."

"It's not!" Hitomi gasped. Chaewon was already sounding ridiculous to her ears.

And she did end up having a good laugh.

"Kim Chaewon-ssi, you misunderstood."

Chaewon only looked at her straight in the eyes, but her own orbs showed a dash of doubt across them.

That was enough to urge Hitomi to be more straightforward.

"I don't like someone else who's not you."

It was Chaewon's turn to blink. She felt like her ears betrayed her and almost blamed the look in Hitomi's eyes for luring her to believe in something she's not-

"I like you. I really like you, Kim Chaewon-ssi."

* * *

"Do you have everything that you need?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Your cards?"

"Already have it."

"Passport?"

"Secured."

"Cash? Other necessities?"

Chaewon sighed as she zipped her luggage shut before she turned to the younger girl looking at her incredulously.

"Minju-yah, you're acting way much worse than Eunbi-unnie. I told you, I already have everything packed and ready."

"Are you really, _really_ sure?"

Chaewon groaned at Minju's never-ending affirmations.

"Because you seem to be forgetting about this."

The younger girl waved the item at Chaewon to which the latter immediately recognized and grabbed it from her hold. Minju chuckled as the older girl double-checked its content to see if it really was what she almost forgot.

A breath of relief escaped of her seeing it still intact.

"Aigoo, unnie. What will you do without us?" Yujin, who had been comfortably lying on the bed, interjected and Chaewon just stared at her blankly.

"Don't speak like you've done something for me."

"Oh? I actually did. Remember five years ago when you assumed Hii-chan liked someone el-"

Before Yujin could finish her sentence, a pillow had come in contact with her face, courtesy of Chaewon. She doesn’t want to remember that embarrassing memory anymore. It should stay buried in the past as part of her treasure of shame because for the past five years, she has been constantly making up for those stupid moments of hers.

"Why do I even still bother with the both of you?"

"Because you love us, unnie. Maybe not as much as you love Hii-chan, but you get the point." Minju winked.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her luggage. She can’t stand being in the same room as the couple anymore and left them behind. She heard them yell at her for leaving without saying goodbye but all she did in response was wave her hand in the air.

Her personal driver placed her luggage in the car compartment while she settled in the backseat.

“You look excited, Ms. Kim.” Her driver said as he looked at her through the rear view mirror.

She smiled at him knowingly. “I have all the reason to be.”

“Of course, miss.”

As the car started, Chaewon dialed the number of the person she's been missing for almost a year. It took a couple of rings before somebody answered.

"Hey, I'm on my way."

_"Okay."_

"You don't sound excited."

_"I don't?"_

She sensed the teasing tone and decided to ride on it.

"You don't want to see me anymore?"

_"Chaewon-unnie, you're being dramatic again."_

"You love it when your unnie is being dramatic though."

_"Believe me I'm just putting up with you just so you won't embarrass yourself."_

"Yah... It's only been a few months but you're already like that. Where's my fluffy Hitoma?"

_"She's not yet home. I believe she's still on her way right now."_

Chaewon couldn't help but chuckle. Honda Hitomi is really something. For the past five years, the girl did nothing but bring sunshine to her life. Even when they have been apart for quite some time, she's never failed to make her day better. The distance they suffered from each other every once in a while because of her work made her value their relationship better.

"You think she'll be there when I arrive?"

_"Hmmm... It depends on the present Chaewon-ssi has for her."_

She opened the box she’s been holding on since she left her unit and smiled at the gem greeting her sight, the sunlight kissing its edges and causing it to shimmer bright. She can’t wait to see how the girl would react with her surprise. It took her quite awhile to commit to such decision despite the other girl’s vocal opinions about it; but now she’s completely made up her mind.

“Trust me… she’s going to love it as much as I really love her.”


End file.
